Blue cheese, apple & chestnut verrine

Here's another instalment of our Christmas Day dinner. Cooking for a family where one is very picky and another is only just four and not a very adventurous eater (yet, if he shows any interest in food at all, that is and isn't distracted by presents and company) can be tricky at the best of times - even more so on occasions like Christmas when you just want to be all understanding and accommodating and make sure everybody is happy. My teenage daughter is more or less a vegetarian, although she will have the occasional pork coming from a farmer round the corner from my parents' which ensures gentle, organic farming - if someone told me that he kills his animal by caressing them, I would believe them. The other thing she will eat is fillet from those lovely people at the Borough Market who sell wild beef - their cattle is out roaming the beautiful English countryside with no more than a barn as a shelter, they only live off what they graze on and get no additional feed, so there is obviously no danger of the meat being laden with artificial fatteners or antibiotics like most of the meat you buy these days. But I digress.

Our second course on Christmas Eve was  vegetarian to please the eldest and something that I prepared the day before (always a bonus). "Verrines" have become very fashionable last year (for some very beautiful concoctions, check Bea's blog La Tartine Gourmande) and I finally succumbed to the trend by making my own... the very first one. I wanted some Christmassy flavours here and settled on layers of blue cheese & mascarpone and stewed apple & chestnut, topped with caramelised pecan nuts with a hint of cayenne pepper. This may not be the most clever verrine ever, but a perfect starter for vegetarians and fussy eaters alike - what's not to like about cheese, apple and nuts?

Blue cheese, apple & chestnut verrine with caramelised pecans
(serves 2-3)

2 Granny Smith apples
50 ml apple juice
80 g roast chestnuts (peeled)
100 g blue cheese (I used Dolcelatte)
150 g mascarpone
9 pecan nuts (halves)
50 g sugar
cayenne pepper or hot smoked paprika

Peel and core the apples, then chop roughly. Heat them in a pan with the apple juice and stew until soft, ca. 10 minutes. Chop the chestnuts roughly and stir into the stewed apples. Season to your liking.
Warm the blue cheese in a pan, only slightly so to make it easier to cream, then whisk it together with the mascarpone in a mixing bowl until very soft and creamy. If it feels too stiff, add some whipping cream. Season with salt & white pepper to your liking.

For the caramel nuts, heat the sugar in a small cast-iron frying pan until it completely dissolves. Let caramelise, taking very good care not to burn it.
Place the pecan nuts on a non-stick mat.
When the caramel is ready, immediately spoon about 1 tsp of the caramel over each nut, making sure it is relatively evenly coated. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper or paprika immediately and leave to cool.

To assemble the verrines, find 2-3 glasses and layer the mascarpone and apple mix alternately. Smooth over, then chill in the fridge until ready to serve. You can prepare this a day ahead.

When ready to serve, place the caramel nuts decoratively on the verrine or the plate underneath it and serve with some bread on the side, if you wish.

Comments

[FreshAdriaticFish]

This sounds interesting although I realy can not "imagine" the taste of it. Well, I'll have to try it...

[peabody]

I lvoe this flavor combination so why not! Looks beautiful.

[Meeta]

Johanna, I really love the addition of blue cheese and to be honest I would never have thought of combining the flavours of apple and blue cheese with chestnuts. This looks great!

[Bellini Valli]

The blue cheese would add that certain zip to this terrine. A very festive dish with the chestnuts too....gotta keep everyone happy!!

[Bea at La Tartine Gourmande]

This is a lovely verrine that you made here, Johanna! Great combination of ingredients!

[brilynn]

This sounds like a wonderful and intriguing combination of flavours!

[Elle]

Missed where you added the chestnuts in the recipe, but this sounds like a great starter and a wonderful combination of flavors, textures and piquant/salty/sweet/crunchy

[johanna]

hi elle, thanks for alerting me to that. have amended the recipe accordingly.

[Lore]

Hmn I don't know what to say about the cayenne pepper or even hot smoked paprika ...to be honest that's to risky for me. All the other flavors sound extremely yum for me so it's a must do recipe:). Thanks!

[Tartelette]

I am always putting things in glasses rather than dishes or plates, so much fun. I live apple and walnuts and blue cheese so doing apple, blue cheese and chesnut makes a lot of sense and this looks gorgeous!

[Annemarie]

A nice sweet / savory combo for your verrine. Hope even the fussy eaters enjoyed it.

[arfi]

that looks divine! i've sent my entry but i haven't got a confirmation from you if it's received.

[Margaret]

I think Christmas Day must have been wonderful at your house. I absolutely love the combo of flavours and textures in your verrine.

[Jeni]

This looks decadent...a truly unique creation. I think it would also be good after a meal with some sweet wine, what do you think?

[johanna]

jeni, what a brilliant idea! what a unique cheese course this would make, you're absolutely right! thanks for suggesting it..